Taking Leave

I remember you telling me, ‘there’s nothing
Like the sea.’ What made you say that, I would
Never know, but don’t thrust its shapeless,
Roaring ugliness upon me…how could you endure
That wave upon wave vulgarity that it perks on
Your face so shamelessly? I’m filled with repulsion
(of late I have begun to hate everything you like),
What's this country where there's no stirring of desire?
In the sun-drenched late afternoons when i'm speaking
without any listeners, see how the sea howls unabashedly
Like the voyeur who, couldn't take his eyes off me when
The curtains fluttered in the musty sea breeze. I long to
Hear a night-bird's cry, sweet, dull, and un-muffled in
The pesky yell of the sea; have you ever seen them
Coming down from the loftiness of the coconuts and the
Casuarinas? The sea alone survives here, darling, it
Survives with its illusion of the horizon and a pale sun
Settling in its womb, it's the same as everyday. I wish
There were someone else here, not you, someone
Equally corrupt as I. Don't look for me; I'm leaving,
I'm going home...there's too much sand in my hair.


Now Playing::Teri mehfil mein.....Lata & Shamshad Begum